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As always with Sporting, there were plenty of entrances and exits throughout the transfer window, so here’s a breakdown of all of those who left the Alvalade albeit temporarily or permanently.

Maurício to Lazio (€2,600,000): A transfer that was essentially made in January but was made permanent by Lazio over the summer adding a little bit extra to Sporting’s transfer budget.

Cédric Soares to Southampton (€6,500,000): Considering the right fullback had only a year left on his contract this wasn’t a bad fee and Cédric has already made a solid start to life in England. However, had his contract been sorted out sooner Sporting could have kept or got a far greater fee for the Portugal international.

Lewis Enoh to Lokeren (€350,000): Not a bad profit for a player who cost only a tenth of that when brought in Sourense back in January 2014. The Cameroonian performed adequately enough for the B team and demonstrated that Sporting can make profit from their second string players.

Nuno Reis to Metz (free): It’s sad to see Nuno Reis not make it at Sporting after spending so long with the club and being so impressive at youth level. A move to Metz though may give his career a kickstart.

José Postiga to Rio Ave (free): Unable to agree to a new contract with Sporting the young striker has moved to Rio Ave on a free transfer. Postiga has yet to play for his new club as he faces some stiff competition to become a first pick Primeira Liga striker.

André Geraldes to Belenenses (loan): Geraldes has rejoined the club where he so impressed two seasons ago. Under Ricardo Sá Pinto the fullback will hopefully return to Sporting for next season ready to slot into the first team.

Liu Yiming to Pinhalnovense (free): The young Chinese defender was unable to break in the B team so has been given a free transfer to join 3 of his compatriots at Pinhalnovense. Some regular first team football is exactly what he needs at this time in his career.

Lisandro Semedo to Reading (free): A frustrating situation in which Semedo and Sporting were unable to come to terms with a new contract for the promising winger. Joining Championship side Reading is an interesting choice for the player.

José Marinheiro to Coruchense (free): The young goalkeeper has been released from Sporting and has joined up with GD Coruchense in the Campeonato Nacional Seniores Série G.

Naby Sarr to Charlton Athletic (€2,000,000): Sporting did well to double their money after selling Naby Sarr after just one season. The physically excellent but error-prone centre-back was ousted by Tobias Figueiredo, Paulo Oliveira and later Ewerton last season. He will face a very different challenge in the Championship.

Miguel Lopes to Granada (loan): Another move for Miguel Lopes who is still suffering from the high wages he was given when he joined the club under Godinho Lopes. The right-back had a solid run in the team last season under Marco Silva but Jorge Jesus seems to prefer João Pereira and Ricardo Esgaio.

Héldon Ramos to Rio Ave (loan): Still unable to break into the first team at Sporting, Héldon will be joining Rio Ave for the remainder of the season.

Simeon Slavchev to Apollon Limassol (loan): Another player unable to find a way into Jorge Jesus’ plans. The Bulgarian midfielder still seems to be struggling to adapt to Portuguese football.

Betinho to Belenenses (undisclosed): It’s a shame that Betinho never made it into the Sporting team after having been so promising at youth level. A wasted year last season with Brentford this move to Belenenses could be a huge boost for the young striker’s career.

João Palhinha to Moreirense (loan): João Palhinha seemed to impress Jorge Jesus and was quickly integrated into first team training during pre-season. A loan to Moreirense could give the midfielder some much needed Primeira Liga experience to develop even further. Will hopefully come back better and stronger.

Wallyson Mallmann to OGC Nice (loan): Surprisingly, Nice have an option to buy Mallmann at the end of this loan. Wallyson looked like he may have been likely for a first team berth this season but instead will be playing in Ligue 1. If the Brazilian midfielder does return to Sporting next season he will hopefully be able to fight his way into the first team.

Rúben Semedo to Vitória de Setúbal (loan): Another play who looked like he had convinced Jorge Jesus of his talents but just fell short of being integrated into the first team. Semedo did play in the Supertaça before being loan to Setúbal where he will hopefully develop like João Mário did there a few seasons ago.

Mica Pinto to Recreativo de Huelva (loan): One of the trio of players loan to Recreativo managed by former B team manager José Dominguez. The left-back is in need of a loan move out after so long playing B team football.

Luís Ribeiro to Recreativo de Huelva (loan): Similar to Mica Pinto in as much as he has perhaps played too much B team football and needs a move to develop further.

Kikas to Recreativo de Huelva (loan): A different challenge for Kikas after his season in Romania last year. It’s probably only a matter of time before he departs the club on a permanent basis.

Michaël Ciani to Espanyol (free): Well, that was quick. Ciani came, saw and left. Sporting could still profit from the French defender as they retain a small amount of his rights for a future transfer.

Diego Capel to Genoa (€1,300,000): Sad to see the Spanish winger leave after such a long stint at the club but after being unable to feature for Marco Silva often last season coupled with his high wages the writing was on the wall. The transfer fee is low for a player of his quality but Sporting will be happy to free up space on the wage bill for new contracts. Best of luck to Diego Capel!

Iuri Medeiros to Moreirense (loan): Iuri Medeiros impressed on loan at Arouca last season but didn’t impress Jesus enough, the manager preferring the young Gelson Martins over him. There’s still plenty of time for the exiting winger though and hopefully this loan deal helps.

Shikabala to Zamalek (€650,000): FINALLY! Shikabala has been a disaster of transfer. It was always a risky move but regardless, nothing went well. After so long AWOL, Shikabala returns to Zamalek for a profit. Not sure how Bruno de Carvalho managed that one.

Filipe Chaby to União da Madeira (loan): Chaby helped União da Madeira get promoted to the Primeira Liga and now he can help them stay there. This is a step up un level that could be key in the midfielder’s development.

Diego Rubio to Real Valladolid (free): An excellent signing from the perspective of Valladolid. The Chilean was in fantastic form for the B team when he returned from Norway last season. Rubio may well go on to score plenty of goals for the Spanish side.

Ramy Rabia to Al Ahly (€750,000): Rabia returns to Al Ahly for about the same fee as when was signed, the defender just wasn’t able to make an impression in the first team with Tobias Figueiredo ahead of him in the pecking order.

Wilson Eduardo to Braga (free): Another player it’s sad to see go. Wilson Eduardo has plenty to offer and will undoubtably do well for Braga. A good move for the player and for Braga though Sporting will be disappointed not to get a transfer fee they retain rights to the player for any future transfers.

Jorge Santos to Salgueiros (free): Gazela just wasn’t able to make the step up to Sporting B’s level of football after his mve last season as was loaned to Salgueiros last season. Jorge Santos has now moved there on a permanent basis.

Sporting have sent their squad list to UEFA which includes some notable absentees. Both Miguel Lopes and Shikabala are absent from the least leading to speculations over their future, the latter is expect to return to for a 4th stint with Zamalek. There were though inclusions for Ryan Gauld, Ramy Rabia, Hadi Sacko and André Geraldes.

It’s been a very busy week for Sportinguistas. There was the Champions League draw, a new signing, Sporting B won and the international call ups. Here’s a round up of the week…

First there were Paulo Bento’s Portugal call-ups. Rui Patrício, Adrien Silva, William Carvalho and Nani all made it into the squad. Cédric Soares presumably missing out through injury. Portugal will be hosting Albania in a European qualifying game.

Rui Jorge’s U21 side named 5 Sporting players for their games against Norway and Azerbaijan. Paulo Oliveira, Ricardo Esgaio, João Mário, Iuri Medeiros and Carlos Mané all feature.

Elsewhere Simeon Slavchev has been called up to Bulgaria, André Carrillo to Peru, Junya Tanaka to Japan, Islam Slimani to Algeria, Héldon Ramos to Cape Verde, Ramy Rabia and Shikabala to Egypt, and Ryan Gauld has been called up to Scotland U21s.

Following up on Cédric Soares, A Bola reports that Sporting expect him to return in time to face Belenenses.

Thursday saw the draw for the Champions League. Sporting’s first participation in the tournament since 2008/2009. Sporting have been drawn along side Chelsea, Schalke 04 and Maribor.

The draw also affects Sporting’s U19 side who will face the same teams in their UEFA Youth League draw. Coach José Lima describing it is a “very difficult” group.

Also on Thursday Sporting announced the signing of another forward. 20-year old Frenchman Hadi Sacko has joined from Girondins de Bordeaux after having spent 2014 on loan at Le Havre. The fee for the player is believed to be €1,400,000.

Sacko has signed a 6-year contract with a €60,000,000 release clause.

Elsewhere there was the departure of Hugo Sousa from the B team. The 22-year old defender was released from his contract and has joined Belgian side Waasland-Beveren for 3 years.

Finally, on Tuesday Sporting B moved up to second place in the Segunda Liga with a 3-0 win over Desportivo das Aves. Francisco Barão started with a strong team as Simeon Slavchev, Ramy Rabia and Jonathan Silva all made their B team debuts. Sporting B were also without the suspended Ousmane Dramé leaving the starting line-up with no recognised striker.

It was the Argentine left-back who started the scoring with a beautifully hit strike in the 30th minute leaving Quim with no hope of saving.

Sporting B doubled their league in the 63rd minute when Mica Pinto, playing on the right-side of midfield, pulled the ball back for Ryan Gauld. The Scot’s shot was deflected before going in.

The impressive Ramy Rabia helped with the 3rd goal. His 84th minute shot after a Iuri Medeiros freekick was well saved but the ball bounced to substitute Lewis Enoh to secure the win for Sporting B.

Sporting kicked off their pre-season campaign with a win against an Azores XI on Saturday in Ponta Delgada and captured the Troféu Pedro Pauleta.

The game marked a first win for new coach Marco Silva and a whole host of first games for many of the new signings. Shikabala opened the scoring for Sporting in impressive style in the second-half before Santa Clara forward Hélder Arruda equalised just 2 minutes later. Sporting wrapped up the win with a Wilson Eduardo goal later on.

After the break there was a huge amount of changes with Marco Silva swapping his entire outfield team. André Geraldes, Paulo Oliveira, Tobias Figueiredo, Mica Pinto, João Mário, Shikabala, Vítor Silva, Wilson Eduardo, Diego Capel and Junya Tanaka. Later on in the game also saw the introductions of Ryan Gauld and Héldon Ramos – only substitute goalkeeper Guilherme Oliveira didn’t feature.

Elsewhere, in case you’ve been living under a rock, the World Cup final finished with Marcos Rojo on the eventual losing side though the Argentinian had a great tournament.

In transfer rumours Eric Dier is being strongly linked with Newcastle United. O Jogo claiming the proposed transfer is “imminent”. Dier’s contract runs out in 2016 and it seems the defender is looking to move away from Sporting.

Islam Slimani’s racking up plenty of rumours with Leicester City the latest club to be linked with the Algerian striker.

Sporting have been linked with the signing of FC Twente winger Jerson Cabral. Cabral, of Cape Verdean descent, currently features for the Netherlands U21 side.

Finally, Record says that Valentín Viola and Salim Cissé have both been dropped down to the B team. Salim Cissé is perhaps likely to get on loan and whilst Viola homes to affirm his place in the Sporting team it looks like he may well be leaving the club soon.

Apologies, it’s been a while our last update, so we’ll review what has happened in a busy week for Sporting starting with last week’s controversial game away to Vitória de Setúbal.

Referee Vasco Santos grabbed the headlines in a hugely controversial game. Islam Slimani and Adrien Silva were the goal-scorers for Sporting whilst Rafael Martins and Ricardo Horta scored for the home side. The result saw Porto get within 2 points of Sporting and Benfica pull 7 points clear.

President Bruno de Carvalho was particularly outspoken after the game stating: “[We ask] the fans to mobilise and that they do not accept a situation which is damaging the Club. Sporting has already had 7 points taken away in the league this season. The only chance that Sporting has of playing is if the fans come together and say enough is enough of this situation that has damaged the Club for long enough.”

Expect a protest from Sporting fans in tomorrow’s game against Porto at the Alvalade.

Before that Sporting B lost again, this time to AC Viseu. Wilson Manafá was sent off but Shikabala returned from injury with Vítor Silva and Iván Piris also making appearances. Fausto Lourenço 70th minute goal grabbed the victory for the home side.

K.A.A. Gent announced that they have agreed to sign Sporting’s on-loan midfielder Renato Neto at the end of the season. Renato Neto joined Sporting in 2007 and graduated through the academy ranks.

In better news Sporting announced that 18-year old forward Gelson Martins had signed a new deal with the club. As with many previous deals, this is long term (until 2019) with a minimum release clause of €45m.

There was more good news for Gelson Martins when he was again picked in the Portugal U-19 squad along side teammates João Palhinha, Domingos Duarte, Rúben Ribeiro, Francisco Geraldes and Guilherme Oliveira.

And if that wasn’t enough for Martins he scored for the Sporting youth team as they beat Benfica 2-1 in the Juniores A 2ª Fase Apuramento Campeão. Domingos Duarte was sent off before Pedro Rebocho equalised for Benfica. Brazilian forward Matheus Pereira got the win for 10-man Sporting though in 74th minute.

And finally we look forward to tomorrow’s big game at the Alvalade against Luís Castro’s Porto. Maurício picked up another yellow card in the Setúbal game and will miss this match meaning Eric Dier is likely to start alongside Marcos Rojo in defence. Elsewhere Carlos Mané returns from the injury he picked up in international duty that put him out of the last game.

It was a busy transfer window for Sporting that went right to the last few seconds, here’s recap of the comings and goings of the January window:

Transfers In:

The transfer of Shikabala was completed just seconds before the closing of the transfer window. The terms with the player had been agreed early on in the day and the player had passed a medical before the transfer looked off due to complications with the player’s former club, Zamalek. Sporting were able to just make the transfer of the mercurial Egyptian playmaker in time with Sporting to pay approximately €500,000 to the club.

Shikabala has a contract until 2018 with a transfer release clause of €45,000,000 and will early the number 7 shirt.

Earlier on in the day Sporting also completed the transfer of Héldon Ramos from Marítimo for a fee of €1,400,000. An earlier bid by Sporting for both Héldon and Rúben Ferreira was turned down by Marítimo but the club were able to secure the transfer on deadline day.

Héldon has a contract until 2019 with a the familiar release clause of €45,000,000 and will be wearing the number 20 shirt.

Sticking with Marítimo, Sporting also agreed terms with Leocísio Sami to join the club for free at the beginning of the new season. Sami is out of contract with Marítimo this year but no word yet on the details of the contract.

That’s not all for what was a busy transfer deadline day, as Matías Pérez joined up with the B team. The Paraguayan central-defender from Club National will be on loan for 18 months at the club with Sporting have an option to buy in the future.

One big deal that was overshadowed perhaps was the completion of Fredy Montero’s transfer from Seattle Sounders. There was plenty of speculation that another club could snap up the Colombian forward but Sporting have made the deal permanent.

Elsewhere there was the surprise signing of Ousmane Dramé on a free transfer from Padova to reinforce the B team. He will be another attacking option after the signing of Lewis Enoh from Sourense was completed just before the transfer window opened.

There was no departure for wantaway midfielder Elias with the club failing to agree terms with Flamengo and other interested clubs. For now the player is eligible to play for Sporting but that seems an unlikely outcome, the player will still be training with the B team, and it is likely that he can still move to Brazil where the season doesn’t begin until March.

Victor Golas also returns from his uneventful loan spell at Corona Braşov and will likely fight for his B team spot with Mickaël Meira and Luís Ribeiro.

Transfers Out:

The two big departures of the winter window were that of Jeffrén Suárez and Zakaria Labyad.

The former has rescinded his contract to join Real Valladolid. The club will save a massive €7.2m in future contracts to the player.

The latter, Labyad, was loaned out to Dutch club Vitesse where he will spend 18 months on loan with the club again saving money from the Moroccan’s wages.

A deal that was the most mutual was that of Fabián Rinaudo going on loan to Italian side Catania. The Argentine midfielder was finding it difficult to play any football due to the supreme season of William Carvalho. The midfielder was rewarded with a new contract as Sporting wish to keep hold of the midfielder if possible.

The only other permanent deal away from the club was that of Alexandre Guedes who joined Catalan club Reus Deportiu but there were plenty of other loan deals:

There’s plenty of transfer news to catch up with after a busy few days…

Ousmane Dramé completed his free transfer to Sporting from Padova, where the player with the “troubled” past will begin with the B team. Dramé has a contract until 2018 with a release clause of €45,000,000.

Sporting are also on the verge of signing Egyptian forward Shikabala from Zamalek. The talented, if controversial, 27-year old is set to fly to Lisbon ahead of a medical before signing a contract tomorrow.

Sporting also bid for two Marítimo players, 25-year old Cape Verdean Héldon Ramos and 23-year old defender Rúben Ferreira. Marítimo president Carlos Pereira stated that Sporting’s bids were “ridiculous”.

That may not be all for Sporting. According to A Bola the club are set to complete an 18-month loan signing of Elton Monteiro from Clube Brugge. The Portugal U19 central defender will serve as reinforcements for the B team. Monteiro spent his youth career at FC Sion and Arsenal before moving to Belgium.

Tobias Figueiredo and Alexandre Guedes with both be leaving the club to join Spanish Segunda División B side CF Reus Deportiu. Tobias Figueiredo’s move will be loan until the end of the season whilst Alexandre Guedes will be joining the club permanently. Sporting will receive 40% of Alexandre Guedes’ future transfer fee.

Stick with Spain, Jeffrén Suárez is still no closer to move away from the club but has been recently touted with a move to Rayo Vallecano or Real Valladolid. There is also interesting from the MLS with Sporting Kansas City.